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“Recognizing Pacesetters is our way of applauding and thanking the civic leaders, organizations and agencies that have joined forces to build brighter futures for children in their communities,” said Ralph Smith, managing director of CGLR. “We are learning with them and from them what it takes to move the needle and close the gap.”
Pacesetter award winners are recognized for improved student outcomes, or for national collaboration, or for structural and strategic changes to improve education.
The Dayton-Montgomery County honor specifically named Learn to Earn Dayton’s work. Learn to Earn officials said it was a result of community-wide efforts they led to analyze student data by demographic groups, “leading to system changes and targeted interventions that promote all students’ success.”
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Learn to Earn has worked for years on school readiness, school attendance, summer learning and other K-12 benchmarks, getting all of Montgomery County’s public school districts and other groups to collaborate on solutions.
“We have learned so much by partnering with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading,” said Robyn Lightcap, executive director of Learn to Earn Dayton. “Our partnerships and coalitions have allowed us to ensure professionals have the tools they need to close the educational achievement gap. That’s our goal — ensuring that all children are realizing their potential.”
Educators consider reading proficiency by the end of third grade a critical milestone toward high-school graduation and career success. By that time, students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” in all of their other subjects. Research shows students who have not mastered reading by that time are more likely drop out and struggle economically.
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Locally, Learn to Earn has been heavily involved in the Preschool Promise effort to expand high-quality preschool access and improve children’s school readiness. A review of the 2017-18 school year showed Preschool Promise students made “significant gains in school readiness” but added the program was not succeeding yet in closing racial achievement gaps, another key goal.
Learn to Earn officials said Dayton/Montgomery County has a new Summer and Afterschool Collaborative working on out-of-school programming and is giving parents resources to continue teaching their children at home, through programs like Preschool Promise’s mailed book of the month effort.
Pacesetters communities in the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for 2018
Avondale, Ariz. — Read On Arizona
Tahoe-Truckee Calif. — Tahoe Truckee Reads
Hartford, Conn. — Hartford Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
New Britain, Conn. — Coalition for New Britain’s Youth
Wilmington, Del. — Get Delaware Reading Wilmington
Broward, Fla. — Broward Reads
Delray Beach, Fla.
Indian River County, Fla. — Moonshot Moment Literacy Movement
Suncoast, Fla. — Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Cobb County, Ga. — Get Georgia Reading
Whitfield, Ga. — Get Georgia Reading
Cedar Valley, Iowa — Cedar Valley Readers
Council Bluffs, Iowa — Raise Me to Read
Des Moines, Iowa — Read to Succeed
Dubuque, Iowa — Dubuque Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Grinnell, Iowa — Grinnell Education Partnership
Quad Cities, Iowa/Ill. — Quad Cities Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Sioux City, Iowa — 0–3: Prime Age to Engage
Story County, Iowa — Story County Reads
Shawnee County, Kansas — Shawnee County Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
Flint and Genesee County, Mich. — Flint & Genesee Literacy Network
Gulfport, Miss. — One Coast Coalition
Kansas City, Mo. — Turn the Page KC
Northern Nevada — Northern Nevada Grade-Level Reading Coalition
Wake County, N.C. — WAKE Up and Read
Montgomery County-Dayton, Ohio — Learn to Earn Dayton
Lane County, Ore.
Philadelphia, Pa. — Read by 4th
San Antonio, Texas — ReadyKidSA
Salt Lake City, Utah — Promise Partnerships of Salt Lake
Roanoke, Va. — Star City Reads
Virginia Beach, Va. — Virginia Beach READS
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